Alltheniko - Italian History VI

When it comes to doing album reviews, one of the absolute joys of the task is when your ears are discovering good bands for the very first time. When the individual particulars of combined musical talents are given life through your speakers, that initial giddy thrill of discovery immediately stimulates the vocabulary gland in my mind; oh I am going to enjoy describing this experience to you all!

With an album that is titled “Italian History VI”, I think it is painstakingly obvious what nation ALLTHENIKO call home; this is their sixth album and the third release since this three-piece outfit signed to Pure Steel Records in 2012. As a band, ALLTHENIKO are a potent splice of a traditional heavy sound that has been meshed with power metal and thrash influences; a robust concoction indeed! The opening track, “A Man on the Edge”, is a vigorous declaration of what this band is capable of; the opening riffing and drums set a thick, mid-paced mood that builds up to beautifully timed bursts of speed; it’s when the vocalist unleashes his glorious power that the song truly takes form.

The next track, “Respect the Fight”, increases the throttle and jumps a couple of gears, the instruments are exciting and hold the pace, while the voice has long drawn out melodies over the top; despite the clear angst in the pitch of the voice the delivery is so smooth. Another really stand out track was “Waste of Time”, what starts off with catchy mid pace builds to choppy bursts of speed and arrives to a huge chorus, emblazoned with guitar licks that could rival top tier international thrashers.

Through the duration of this album, the influences of the early eighties metal on ALLTHENIKO are quite apparent; which is really the only failing it has. At times it did sound a little “dated” and there is nothing in its sound that I’m sure hasn’t already been explored by bigger name bands many years ago, but this short coming is a very minor one.Overall, this is a world-class release of awesome songs that is expertly produced. Play this at a party, it is a rocking soundtrack to really good time; I highly recommend this album.

Song Writing- 8Originality- 7Memorability- 8Production- 8

Tracklist:

1. Man on the Edge2. Respect and Fight3. Emblema4. Waste of time5. Pain to Play6. Denier7. Like a Fake8. Italian History VI9. Propaganda